In 1851, Iowa’s two U.S. senators – George W. Jones and Augustus Dodge – proved instrumental in getting the Illinois Central Railroad to extend its line from Galena to Dunleith (East Dubuque), Illinois. With that in place, Jones, along with C.H. Booth, Lucius H. Langworthy, and others formed the Dubuque & Pacific Rail Road Company (D&P) – which was chartered on April 28, 1853. At the time of its organization, there was not even one mile of railroad constructed in Iowa, but all agreed this was a worthy investment. The first division, Dubuque to Dyersville, Iowa, about 29 miles, was completed in May 1857, and the second division, Dyersville to Jesup, Iowa, about 49 miles, was completed in March 1860.
In 1860, after many ups and downs as a company, the D&P finally re-organized as the Dubuque & Sioux City Rail Road – reaching Cedar Falls by 1861. The Civil War brought everything to a standstill, but by April, 1866, the first train left Dubuque for Cedar Falls. Funding continued to plague the company, and it was eventually taken over by the Illinois Central (IC).
The recorded mileage of the Dubuque and Sioux City amounted to 760.98 miles, which was acquired partly by construction, partly by purchase, and partly through reorganization. The inventoried mileage was 760.902.
The interest of the Illinois Central in owning rather than leasing the property of the Dubuque and Sioux City Railroad led to a showdown between the two parties at an annual meeting in Dubuque on February 14, 1887. Forces of the Illinois Central controlled a majority of all those present at the meeting and therefore nominated five directors friendly to them. During the call of the roll of stockholders proxies representing 5,000 shares of stock were presented and rejected by the directors in control of the meeting on the grounds that proxy voting in Iowa was not legal.
Lawsuits followed and litigation lasted for months with those holding stock in the Dubuque and Sioux City demanding purchase of their shares at par which was well above their current value. In the end, the stockholders were given $80.00 per share, and the Dubuque and Sioux City Railroad disappeared into the Illinois Central. (13)